Chosen at Random
by Authenti
Summary: A teenage girl called Amber wakes up to an ominous task: aid the Smash fighters to prepare for and fight through what's to come. Trouble is, the girl's never been inclined to fisticuffs. Oh, well. Good luck with that, kiddo. Rating may change later.
1. To Warp

The penguin king looked at him oddly.

"What d'you mean, broken?"

"I dunno. It just looks kind of… not right. The place just looked… broken."

"Well, you know Luigi's Mansion," Dedede droned, relaxing immediately. "It reforms over time, don't worry about it."

Bowser shook his head. "No, I don't mean broken. I mean…" He trailed off, and scratched thoughtfully at his mane. "…I can't describe it with words."

A Waddle-Dee fed the king some grapes, and he seemed to have zoned out again. It was impossible to get that penguin to listen sometimes. Bowser growled in irritation.

"Well, if you're going to ignore me, I'm outta here. I want to go back and have another look around."

No answer. The giant tortoise gave him a poisonous look and turned tail. He clapped once loudly, and a blueish haze surrounded him. Bowser vanished from Delfino Plaza.

Dedede made an irksome noise and decided to have a nap. Probably nothing worth worrying about.

---

The girl opened her eyes quickly, and attempted to sit upright as if she was in bed. She wasn't. Brushing blonde hair out of her eyes so as to see better, she bit down on her tongue to quiet a gasp of shock. There was a huge white glove floating in front of her, facing away. It was hovering over a small screen, set in mid-air, and almost seemed as though it were watching. There was a fight on screen. Two characters that immediately clicked with her were the small, pink Star Warrior and the yellow lightning-tailed mouse. Her grey eyes widened.

_I'm in… a Smash tournament…?_

The hand twitched, then snapped round to face her.

"…Oh. You can hear my thoughts?"

It said nothing. She never had been certain of whether or not Master Hand could talk-

"Good evening."

There was an awkward silence, and she glanced down at herself. She was wearing her usual 'gaming outfit' – a pair of purple jeans and a purple shirt with 'EELS' printed on it along with the image of a small blue-tit. She wasn't wearing her cat-eared hat, though. What a disappointment. She wiggled her toes awkwardly… Good, the socks with the turtles attached to them.

In unrelated news, she was also floating upright and was being bound by what looked like a set of three glowing halos.

"Er."

Master Hand turned back to watch the fight. Kirby transformed into a pink brick and Pikachu shot off the edge of the Final Destination stage. Kirby did a victory dance, and teleported elsewhere.

"Er, sorry, but… what am I here for?"

"You're a Super Smash Brothers player who was chosen at random to join the others in trying to defeat…" The voice trailed off.

"What?"

"I cannot say. We have little time." Master Hand turned back to her and swept upwards briefly. In the wake of his movement, a holographic board of characters appeared. "Choose one. It will be your default form for the rest of your stay here."

"Wait, what? Can I change it later?"

"When you are defeated, you will revert to a trophy and lose all other character models other than your 'main' one." His voice sounded impatient, as if he felt that she should already know this.

Amber took a long, hard look at the board. "I don't… This…"

"Hurry," he hissed, voice sounding slightly strained.

"…I guess I was kind of good with Kirby when I played at home, but I think I'd feel better if I was a Pikachu. I'm not a good fighter in real life, so… I think I'd prefer to be fast and able to dodge easily." _And maybe for the spammy B-down attack,_ she thought with a wry smile.

"Your reasoning is sound. Prepare yourself." Master Hand swept over her as though passing through a candle flame. She felt an intense pain throughout her body, felt her spine lengthen to a tail, felt herself shrink.

Her eyes had automatically screwed shut tightly, but she heard a pained cry from somewhere in front of her. There was an explosion. The halo-like objects keeping her in place snapped into pieces. She was forced away by a shockwave, and then… everything went dark.

---

There was a certain coolness to the air. Along with the dust motes and the generally ghost-filled atmosphere, there was a chill that wasn't native to Luigi's Mansion.

And then there was the wind. A howling, unnatural gust that blew through the very foundations of the mansion itself. Something wasn't right.

Bowser spat a length of flame to reassure himself, and stifled a shiver. Something tapped him on the shoulder as he neared the entrance hall. He whirled around.

"Ayh!"

"Raah- oh. It's you. Get lost, Luigi."

The green-hatted plumber pulled a disturbed face and backed off, expecting to be attacked, but Bowser merely turned away and continued through the mansion.

"What are you doing?" Luigi enquired, dashing forwards to keep up. It seemed that he was still wary of this building, even though he had conquered it before.

"Looking for something."

"For a-what?"

"Don't know. Get lost."

Luigi shut his mouth and stopped following Bowser in case his temper frayed any further.

Minutes later, he heard a loud crashing sound from the roof.

---

Bowser blearily shook his head to wake himself up. There was a slight weight on his torso, and he sat up with his claws ready to catch whatever it was.

A familiar yellow shape lay unconscious in his arms. He stared at it for a while, then glanced up at the sky from which it had fallen.

"…Whoa. Some fall there, Pikachu. Pity it isn't over." He heaved himself upright, then stepped towards the edge of the balcony with a malicious grin. He counted to three and was just about to throw the annoying rodent over the edge when he realised what it was wearing and stopped himself just in time.

A white bandana with the black silhouette of a hand on it was tied to the Pokémon's forehead. Its ear twitched as he set the Pikachu down on the floor and examined it from a distance. Pikachu never wore anything but goggles nowadays. What was the special occasion? Was it Master Hand's doing?

The yellow Pokémon awoke slowly when he pulled its tail once.

"Hey. You. What's with the headgear?"

"…Huh…?"

"Wake up."

It blinked tiredly at him and rubbed its eyes with both hands.

"…Oh… that's right… I'm in an SSB game…" it murmured in a feminine voice. Bowser took several steps back.

"You can talk!?"

"Don't see why not…" Amber stood up shakily, then was forced back to the floor again. Everything hurt. She felt burn marks on her face. "Augh… what happened back there…?"

Bowser kept staring, wide-eyed. "You're no ordinary Pikachu."

She offered a weak smile. "Eheh… no… I'm a player."

The powerful tortoise gaped in disbelief, and then fell to one knee with a fist to his chest. "Never did I expect-"

"Cool, I get god-like status here?" She managed to rise again, and stayed standing this time, watching him calmly.

"I believe it would be a good idea to tell Master Hand about this," Bowser muttered, eyes narrowing. She shook her head, ears flapping about madly.

"No, I think it was Master Hand who brought me here. I saw him earlier. He turned me into a Pikachu and then there was this big explosion and then… And then I was just kind of, er, here."

"Fascinating," Bowser nodded, faking interest. "Well, I'm going. If there's a player entering our world, I bet that means you have some huge quest to be getting on with." He turned to stomp irritably away. She looked disappointed.

"But I don't know what I'm _dooooiiiiing_!" she whined, long ears flattening slightly. She sat down on the balcony, shivering as the wind whipped at her. There was a long silence, and she stared at the floor as if just now giving in to the shock of being transformed and teleported into an entirely new universe. There was a tentative set of footsteps behind her, and she flinched, spinning round on the spot to see who it was.

Luigi leapt back several feet, surprised, and they locked stares.

"…Luigi?"

"H-how-a do you know my name?" he gasped. She sighed.

"I'm a… player. I think. I don't know any more."

"Wow!"

She got up and approached him. He flinched away. "Hey, relax. Look, can you show me what I'm meant to be doing? I really have no idea."

Luigi grinned, an embarrassed paleness to his face. "I… uh… don't know either… sorry."

"But you can teleport like Bowser, right? Show me how to do that!" Her face lit up, and she clasped her small paws together pleadingly.

"Well, I-a do it by clapping… it depends. It's just how you remember it."

"Meh. I guess clapping's easiest."

"Okay, now just focus on where you want to be." He looked at her expectantly. She tilted her head on one side, eyes darting this way and that as she tried to come up with a good place.

"Ehhh… Eheh… I don't know, er… Oh! The Halberd! Of course!" Luigi frowned.

"The… what?"

"Oh… you haven't completed the story mode yet…" She looked unhappy, but then twitched like a mad rat. "Oh no."

"What?"

"….Ooooohhh nooo."

"_Whaaat_?"

"Luigi, oh god oh god we're screwed you're all screwed – well actually no you guys will be fine, _I'm _screwed-"

"Calm down, you crazy girl. What's-a going on?"

"Okay! Okay. Okaaaay. Right. Listen very carefully. In my world, the Super Smash Tournament and all this stuff… it's all just a game. On a console. You know, a video game."

"…Yes, we're-a quite aware. You're a player character, so…"

"Good. Okay. Right. Well, the thing is, there's this place called the Subspace Emissary, and there's this giant rainbow butterfly guy called Ta-"

Something went wrong. She teleported to the Halberd without meaning to. Luigi stood there in confusion for a few minutes, trying to work out what had just happened.


	2. To Become A Trophy

Amber stared straight ahead in confusion and horror. A pair of eyes, shaded by a bandana, stared back. She attempted to back away, but hit something that felt like cardboard.

"…The hell…?" Snake grabbed her ear and she winced. "The hell is this? Who are you, and where'd you come from?"

She attempted to pull away, and failed. "My name's Amber… I teleported here by accident."

Snake gave her an odd look. "Uh. Teleported? Yeah, right. Of course. I believe you." He reached for a grenade, but the yellow thing looked alarmed and vanished again in a blue mist.

He sighed and decided to keep a better vigil. He must have dozed off for a second. Must have. Because that little situation made absolutely no sense. He knew he was alone in his box…

---

Amber reappeared a few seconds later in mid-air above Delfino Plaza. She landed on something soft and bounced to the side.

"OW! HEY!"

She stood up rubbing her aching head, and a hammer appeared right in front of her.

"You're about to get whacked, ya little yellow vermin!"

"Yeee! Why!?" She leapt out of the way and the penguin king drew himself to his full height.

"'Cause ya interrupted a very important nap- hey, wait. You can talk?" He faltered, and she took this opportunity to dash backwards. Her back hit something and she stopped.

"Oh, _there _you are. I was wondering where you'd gotten off to. Are you following me?" Bowser growled. She stepped forwards again, apologising all the way, only to realise she was heading back towards Dedede. Amber slammed her small hands to either side of her face and screwed her eyes shut.

Ohhh what do I do? What do I do, what do I do!? Teleport, okay, go go go, but – where to? Focus!

Seconds later, she was gone again. A number of worlds flashed by at immeasurable speeds, and she found herself growing more and more confused and pressured to pick a place –

Delicate, silken-gloved hands caught her as she materialised at the outskirts of a fighting arena. Peach examined the Pikachu in surprise, and it stared back at her with a look of intense shock on its face.

"Ow."

"Eeek! It talks!" The princess dropped the yellow mouse by accident and Amber landed painfully on her back. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to drop you! You shocked me!"

"Peach, stand back." Zelda performed an intricate set of hand movements and a whitish glow built up around her fingers. She aimed her palms at the Pikachu, and the light dispelled.

"So? Is it safe?" Peach enquired. The look of surprise on Zelda's face unnerved her.

"More than that. It's a player."

Amber groaned and picked herself up, one hand massaging her back like some kind of old lady. "Er. Hello-oh. Oohhh no." Something caught her attention about the place she was in. She leapt up to the side of the arena, peering over and down at the two contestants in the centre of the place.

"Is that Mario and Kirby?"

"Y-yes… is there a problem?" Peach asked, not seeming to be in awe about the recently-discovered fact that there was a human player in their midst.

"Yes. A big problem. A hell of a big problem made of purple and black blobs and the Halberd." She fearfully stared up at the skies, scanning them for any sign of a masked airship. So far, nothing.

Zelda gave her an odd look. "If a real player is here… that must mean something is going wrong. There's no other explanation."

"Well, you're right there. It's not like I'd pick this particular spot for a holiday destination. No offense," she added quickly at the indignant look on Princess Peach's face. "Uh-oh. Are they done fighting?"

"Yes. I believe Mario won this round. They fought well."

"Then we're in trouble," Amber hissed, and dropped from the edge of the arena to land neatly on Peach's lap. "You guys should probably take a look up." She pointed.

"What in the name of Toad is that!?" the pink princess squealed.

Zelda's eyes widened. "I'm not sure. But I think we're needed." The three spectators (and indeed the rest of the crowd) looked on in horror as the massive airship appeared out of the clouds, showering the arena with bubbling pieces of matter.

"Damn right you are. It's happening just like in the game… Get down there." Maybe I should warn them about what's going to happen to one of them… But what if telling them about it will mess everything up? Amber set her teeth as the two tough princesses vaulted into the arena and began the fight. "I have to help somehow. But I don't even know how to fight!" Besides, they probably wouldn't even need her… right? If this was following the game rules, then… well…

At the moment, it didn't seem as though the Primids were very interested in any rules. Kirby and Mario were the first to be forced to the ground after their tiring duel against each other. The princesses followed shortly after, and it was when the strong-willed Zelda was brought to her knees and the Primids began to invade the stands that Amber realised she was going to have to do something.

A Primid grabbed her tail. She saw it raise a boomerang, its eyes devoid of any emotion, and without thinking she loosed a powerful burst of electricity through its hand, up its arm and across its body. It seized up, then exploded into particles which joined the thick fog of purple wriggling on the floor.

"…Wow. I can do that?"

No time to get to grips with her power. She had to fight her way to Mario, Kirby and the princesses; without them, she'd be overpowered. Amber let out a rough battle-cry and sprang into the fray, surprising herself with how high she could jump.

A Primid caught at her ear. She shocked the hell out of several of them. One stepped on her tail. A vivid crackling sound and a bolt of lightning put an end to that.

Something snagged her bandana.

She snapped.

"Get… the hell… AWAY!!" she screamed, squaring her feet and reaching skywards. She felt a faint jolt exit her and head for the skies. A split second later, a huge thunderbolt snapped down from the heavens and dissolving Primids flew in all directions. This is amazing, she thought. I've never felt this powerful!

Eventually, she reached the still form of Mario. Panting, she examined the trophy carefully for a moment before turning and giving it a good whack with her lightning-shaped tail as she went.

The trophy glowed whitish-gold and the light moved from top to bottom… but no Mario appeared. Instead, her own body changed as she looked on, the light engulfing her and restoring her to her regular human form… with one major difference.

"Oh, hell. I never noticed what a terrible outfit this is before." She pulled at the red hat that had appeared on her head and stared down at herself in amazement. Instead of her familiar Eels shirt, she now wore the trademark denim and red outfit Mario usually laid claim to. Pulling the hat off, she examined the front. No doubt about it – this was his hat. She half expected the 'M' to change to an 'A' to match her name, since the rest of the outfit appeared to be tailored to fit her perfectly – but it remained the same logo as ever.

A Primid threw a punch at her, and without thinking she thrust her palm forwards to meet it. A fireball erupted from her hand, and the Primid was forced backwards into a group of its kin. All of them dissolved before her eyes.

"…Cool," she murmured, staring at her now-gloved hands. "Well, now I know what Master Hand meant by 'character models'."

A loud, resounding thunk from somewhere to her left caught her attention, and her head snapped round to stare at the huge plant-like monster. Before she could do anything, it snatched up the princesses in its twin cages and the doors clanged shut. Its bellow of spite echoed in her head, and she stumbled backwards. Her foot hit Mario's trophy, and she fell over it to land awkwardly tangled in both this trophy and Kirby's. They glowed much like when she'd gained Mario's abilities, but this time the two characters sprang to life beside her.

Mario paused only to glance at her outfit, grin, and raise his hat jovially at the sight of her mimicking his fashion sense before darting forwards in unison with Kirby.

Amber got to her feet and glanced over at the Subspace Bomb which she'd noticed a cloaked figure drop earlier. The time was clear enough. They'd have to work fast.

---

Approximately two minutes later, the plant beast gave a roar of anger as it collapsed on the ground, defeated. One of the cages it was carrying sprang open, and Princess Peach was spilled out onto the rough ground. Mario rushed forwards to help her. Nearby, Zelda picked herself up from the rubble, forcing herself to try and stand. Kirby began running forwards, but skidded to a halt as a menacing laugh from behind them alerted them to Wario's presence.

Amber noticed the gun he was aiming at them, and screamed. "RUN!"

Mario flung himself protectively in front of Princess Peach, and Kirby looked from the gun to Zelda to Amber and back again, quivering in confusion.

"Poyo…?"

"Move!" Zelda shouted. Kirby seemed to come to his senses as the sound of the gun charging up floated through the air. He leapt skywards just as it fired, the blackened arrow forcing Zelda backwards with the sheer power of it. Her trophy once more fell to the ground. Wario leapt forwards, grinning like a maniac, and scooped her up before making his getaway.

Peach and Kirby ran forwards, trying to catch up, but as he ran, Kirby took a glance over at the Subspace Bomb.

Amber realised what was about to happen. Kirby could take the Princess to safety on the Warp Star… but… it wasn't big enough for three. What would happen to her?

"Kirby!"

"Poyo?"

"Use the Warp Star!"

Kirby nodded, looking serious, and a glitter in the distance zoomed closer until it swept under his feet. He grabbed Peach's arm and flew off. The bomb exploded.

A trophy of an ordinary teenage girl in a purple shirt blipped out of existence.


	3. To Make A Leap

Pit loved to freefall. With his wings spread wide to prevent him from losing balance and flipping over, he felt like he was on top of the world. And, in a way, he was. Far above the ground below, he finally beat his wings fiercely to bring himself to a halt just above the clouds, and alighted gently on the cotton-wool landscape.

It felt good to be out again. The goddess had given him permission to correct the wrongs in the world, and he had thrown himself at it wholeheartedly.

A glimmer in the distance. He increased the pace and skidded to a halt in front of two trophies. One was familiar… hadn't he been watching this moustachioed man take on the pink Star Warrior earlier?

As for the other one… he did not recognise her. She looked friendly enough, though, and it was in his nature to give people the benefit of the doubt. Pit stood between the two fallen fighters and touched both trophies simultaneously.

The red-hatted man got to his feet slowly, shaking his head. Strangely, the other trophy didn't keep the same outfit when it revived. She was wearing more or less the same clothes as the plumber, which was confusing.

"Oh. Oh dear- oh!" Amber sank through the clouds, alarmed, and felt her foot stick out into nothingness. "H-help!" she whimpered. Pit grabbed her wrist and yanked her to the top of the cloud bank again. "I don't th-think I can stand here- I'm sorry- oh god I hate heights…" She peered uneasily down at the shifting clouds at her feet, seemingly unaware of the glow that was passing from Pit's arm to hers. It spread across her body, changing her clothes again. She realised at the last minute and squeaked in surprise as she found she was now wearing sandals, a long, flowing white robe and a shimmering golden wreath entwined on her head. And best of all…

"Oh wow. _Wow…_" She flexed her new wings experimentally and beat them once or twice, rising above the clouds a little. Pit let go of her wrist, alarmed. In a way, her outfit reminded him of Palutena's… though perhaps it wasn't as complex, it was more or less the same design without the golden trimmings.

"Wh-who are you?"

Amber blinked, lost concentration and dipped sharply before she remembered to keep flapping her wings. "E-ehh… Sorry if I shocked you. I'm Amber. Pleased to meet you, and thanks for letting me nick your powers for a bit." She tested the clouds with her foot, but it just went straight through. "Maybe it's because I'm not from your world, but I can't walk here. I suppose I'll have to keep flying…"

Mario tested the clouds where she'd been standing. They held firm underneath his feet. The girl could be right – after all, if he could walk on the clouds but she couldn't, there was clearly a difference between them.

"Well, I'm a player character, anyway. Does that answer your question, Pit?"

"Uhh…" He thought back to what Palutena had told him. _A human girl will aid the resistance against the true evil._ For once, not a puzzling double-edged myth. A solid fact. Whether or not this was the girl Palutena meant was the only possible problem, and somehow he felt he trusted this person.

Amber tried a little spin in mid-air and felt her confidence growing. As terrified as she was of being so high off the ground, seeing the other two standing on the clouds helped her to relax, as if she had a soft cushion to fall onto.

"If you guys were attacked by the flying ship," Pit interjected, avoiding her question; "it was going in that direction." He pointed. The clouds along that way were scattered with dark purple. He shuddered. "I saw everything that happened at the arena. I'm starting to have my doubts that we should go at all."

"Yeah. It would have to be the way with so many enemies." Amber sighed.

Mario detected the unwillingness in her voice, and rolled his eyes. "Let's-a go," he called out, grinning as he tugged on the wings of both his new flying companions and took a running leap off the cloudy ledge and down into more dangerous territories.

---

Amber couldn't remember the last time she'd dreamed at all, never mind so vividly.

_A white blur. Blue lines. _She tried to focus. It felt important that she focused. Extremely important. Life-threateningly so.

Her heart beat slightly faster and the girl rolled over in her sleep, nearing the dangerously steep edge of the rock. The ground was uncomfortable to lie on, but at least it was something. She couldn't sleep on the clouds like the other two, and she envied them for it.

The blur sorted itself out into the shape of a hand, straining against blue threads which seemed hooked into its fingers. Something was wrong. This hand was powerful – somehow, she could sense it. But it was being restrained by something unseen.

The vision was being sent to her by someone. She shouldn't be seeing it at all. Something about this dream made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. But who was giving this sight to her?

A flash of colour at the side of her line of sight.

Something was seriously, seriously wrong.

That rainbow spark again.

Numbers flooded her mind, as well as a deep-rooted fear.

_Rainbow_

_numbers_

_134257801 234510 3900145202 30420341…_

_too many-_

"**Amber?"**

The girl sat bolt upright, hitting her head against Pit's. Both recoiled, groaning in pain, and Mario looked on in vague amusement.

"Five… three… n-nine… what?"

"Are you okay? It's morning. We need to get moving."

Amber rubbed at her eyes tiredly and stood up, yawning. Her yawns were always impossibly wide. Pit backed off. Were they intimidating, too, or was it lack of dental hygiene? She dismissed the thought. She took very good care of her mouth, thank you very much.

"Sorry. I had a wacky dream." Somehow, the word 'wacky' just didn't work with a British accent. "It was all black except for a hand and some string."

"Not sure I want to know," Pit grated, and Mario chuckled jovially. Amber shrugged.

"Well, what can ya do? Anyway, off we go." She stood up, beat her wings and took off over the surrounding clouds. It felt good to be moving again, even if she did feel bruised all over from the rough night on the rocky cliff.

"What's-a that? Over there. See it?" Mario pointed as he ran to keep up with Amber. Pit nodded.

"It's… well, it's the same creature which dumped that bomb at the arena."

"Call it the Ancient Minister," Amber called back. "If you're ever stuck for a name again, ask me." Her voice started to be ripped away from her by the wind as she picked up speed. "Hurry up or we'll miss him!"

Mario put on a burst of speed and Pit's wings glowed blue as he accelerated. They had just about caught up to the Ancient Minister.

"Go!" Mario growled, making a daring leap for the bomb the strange figure was carrying and missing by inches. Pit saw his chance and used Mario as a foothold to boost himself even higher, but the Ancient Minister adjusted accordingly and he missed as well.

What the robed figure hadn't been counting on was a third person.

Amber let out a cry of victory which soon turned into a strangled yelp as she realised she was the only one to have made it. The Ancient Minister struggled to compensate for the extra weight. Fear broke out in her mind and she felt her form shift suddenly. The clouds were left way behind and below them, as well as Pit and Mario. In her regular Pikachu form, she felt terrified. She shouldn't have done this. It was rash. She could slip and fall. She might find some weird random trigger and accidentally activate the bomb or something! She might-

Amber felt a prickling sensation in her yellow fur, and with some effort turned her face upwards from where she was clinging for dear life to the smooth metal bomb. The Ancient Minister returned her gaze emotionlessly, its strange yellow eyes fixed on her black ones with the slivers of grey in them.

Pit's voice broke through the vicegrip their eyes were locked in.

"Amber! You can't let go now – I can't catch up enough to help if you fall!" Amber was reminded of the fact that she no longer had wings, and broke away from the Ancient Minister's stare just long enough to glance down at the gaps in the clouds, which revealed the ground - far, _far_ below. "Just hold on!" Pit ran out of energy to fly and dropped to the cloud level. Mario slowed to a halt beside him.

Hold on… until when? Until the bomb goes off? Until I can't hold on any more and I just fall to my death?

Her small hands scrabbled for a better hold, and reached the heavy clip that kept the bomb secured to the Ancient Minister. She clung on there, her ears just brushing the hem of the odd being's green cape.

Strangely, there was heat emanating from it. It warmed her hands just to the point of being uncomfortable, and she slipped downwards a little. Was the Ancient Minister travelling via some kind of jet engine?

She regretted now never playing enough of this game to find out anything more about this character. No, this _person. _It was all real now, and she would have to stop thinking of it as a game. After all, her fear was real.

It felt like it was over an hour and a half before the Ancient Minister showed any signs of changing course. Amber became aware of their speed decreasing over a period of time, and slowly they began to descend. The clouds were scarce here, and the small island below was getting closer by the second. Eventually, the Ancient Minister came to a halt just above a desert. Sword clashes were heard in the distance, and they were approaching fast. The Ancient Minister loosed the bomb and it fell, with Amber attached, to the ground, where three strange robots were waiting.

No.

The Ancient Minister _hesitated_… and _then _dropped the bomb to the ground below. Amber had no time to dwell on this, but it seemed significant somehow. She felt a metallic claw close around her tail and gently tug her away from the bomb. She struggled briefly, but the robot lowered her carefully to the ground and merely put itself between her and the bomb.

There's nothing I can do. I have to get out of here. She spurred herself into action, finding that she could run faster as a Pikachu than she ever could as a human. Amber could still hear the blip of the countdown timer in the back of her mind even as she got to be out of earshot. She knew it wasn't far enough. She wasn't going to make it. The bomb was going to explode again, and she would be stuck as a trophy again for God knows how long. She wondered where she'd end up next…

Something was up ahead. Three warriors, their swords creating sparks, fighting Primids of all kinds. She gasped as she recognised one of them.

"Meta Knight!" she screamed. At home, she'd always been told to tone it down. But now she was thankful for having a loud voice.

The knight turned to face her, confused as to how a small yellow creature with a bandana could both talk and know his name. Amber coughed as she accidentally kicked up dust into her face, but soon realised it wasn't her who had done so. Her paws lifted from the ground. A horrible feeling of gravity pulling her in the wrong direction. She was falling horizontally, into the Subspace vortex. She curled up around her tail instinctively in mid-air and waited for it to be over.

The end never came. Instead, she felt a glove snatching her out of the air and cold metal against her side. Pulsing wingbeats.

"Ike! Marth! We must flee from this area!"

"What about the castle?"

"Right now, our lives are our main priority! Move!"

"Thank you," came a small, breathless voice that didn't match those of the hardened warriors around it. "I'll repay the favour at some point, I'm sure…"

The small Pikachu lapsed into unconsciousness. One paw limply grasped a corner of the V-shaped section cut out of Meta Knight's mask. The warrior took another look at the bandana she was wearing. Where had he seen that marking before…?


	4. To Climb A Mountain

Amber awoke hours later, more or less safe and more or less sound. She picked herself up from the ground woozily. Someone had placed a canteen of water beside her, which she opened and sipped from quietly. Ike and Marth were conversing in hushed tones a little way away, and Meta Knight was standing with his cloak wrapped around himself, staring up at the skies. She decided not to ask which one of them had given her the water.

The scenery was more rugged here, the rocks rising higher and cliffs beginning to appear. Ahead was a mountain, the peak surrounded by a thick reddish haze that spread all the way from the left-hand side – she had no idea if this was north, south, east or west.

Amber stepped forwards in silence to join Meta Knight, deciding that she should probably explain herself for earlier.

"Sir?" There was no reply for a while. "Sir Meta Knight? I just wanted to thank you for rescuing me from the Subspace bomb."

"What do you know of the bombs?" Meta Knight asked sharply. He hid it well, but she couldn't help but feel he was more than a little suspicious about her. She didn't blame him.

"I'm a player character, sir. I'm not sure, but I think Master Hand summoned me here. Anyway, I hope that kind of explains why I know so much." Amber marvelled at how formal her attitude had become all of a sudden. She felt as though she should try and make a good impression, given that he had saved her life. "I can help with your search for the Halberd, if that's what you're looking for." Not that is had been a particularly wild guess. If she'd lost her signature airship, Amber had a feeling she'd prioritise finding it.

Meta Knight remained silent as he thought this over. "How much do you know about this world?"

"Hmm… Well, put it this way. I know everything that you, er, 'smashers' know, but collectively. Like some kind of hive mind. I don't know how to explain it. It's… like I've been everywhere at once."

"This could prove useful."

"Yes, I should think so. For instance, the Halberd has a stowaway who may come in useful."

"A stowaway, on my ship?" Meta Knight mused, with a hint of irritation.

Amber smiled. "It would never have happened under your watchful eyes, I'm sure, but it hardly matters right now. I will warn you, though - the Halberd…" She sighed. "It's… well, it's not going to be pretty. I love that ship. A flying work of art. It'll be a pity to see it go down."

Meta Knight looked vaguely alarmed, but gave a resigned sigh. "She will serve her purpose before it's over."

"I know. It's just such a shame." Amber shrugged awkwardly – her stubby yellow body didn't take well to such actions. "Well, I suggest we head up that mountain," she continued, staring across the ragged lines that were cracks in the terrain to run her eyes up the mountainside slowly. Her long ear twitched. "And we should set off as soon as possible."

"Who are you to give orders?" Ike growled, approaching her from behind. "Colourful little rat. I bet you're working for the bad guys, aren't you?"

"Give her the benefit of the doubt," Marth said quietly.

Amber bristled. "I'm a player character, _actually_."

"Prove it."

"What? How can I do that?"

They bickered for a full minute before Marth placed a hand on Ike's shoulder and pointed to the canyons below. Meta Knight was already halfway to the mountain, and flying fast. "We should get moving."

Ike grumbled something, but leapt down from the ledge and sped up to try and catch up with the flying warrior.

Marth turned to follow them, but something made him hold back. He glanced at Amber. "Can you keep up?"

"I'll try. Wait, though. One minute." She pattered over to his side and hesitated. _I hope this works._ Amber reached up and placed a small hand on his own. There was a rush of light, and she felt a change occur. One minute, she was a Pikachu, and the next… "Nice outfit. I like this." She let go of Marth's hand and tugged gently on her new cape, spreading it out so it caught the wind. Her hair was the same as always, and so was her build, but she felt empowered. "Let's go." Plus the sword she now held in her hand looked pretty damn sharp.

"How did you…?"

"Told you. I'm a player character." She approached the edge at a run, then skidded to a halt as she realised how far down it was, then Marth leapt straight off… and then she lost her balance and was forced to run all the way down the side of the cliff vertically, letting out a whimper as she reached the bottom and the curve of the cliff made her level out.

"Never, _ever _doing that again," she whined.

---

A glint in the distance. Something metal, cruising at great speeds just above the surface of the desert. It seemed to sense them, and wheeled around to begin hurtling towards the group.

"We fight that?" Amber asked, already knowing the answer. Meta Knight took off towards it. Marth drew his sword and they all approached the robot-tank object. It skidded to a halt when Meta Knight clashed his sword against the edge, and suddenly transformed into a vaguely humanoid robot.

"Galleom," Amber called out. "Its name is Galleom!"

"Interesting, but how does that help us?"

"It doesn't," she barked, and leapt forwards with her sword at the ready. It only now occurred to her that she'd never used a sword in her life. She found her arms automatically lunging the sharp blade towards Galleom, scratching its armour, and confused herself with the amazing amount of controlled swings she managed next. As Galleom attempted to sweep her away with one arm, she brought her sword up to protect herself. So… taking a swordsman's powers also meant taking their skill? She smiled, relieved. This cut out a hell of a training montage. She chuckled.

Meta Knight leapt up to bring his sword screeching down the side of the robot, and Ike stabbed at a weak point.

Galleom let out a bellow of what could have been rage, and stood up straight, allowing itself to fall over forwards.

Meta Knight instinctively braced himself and held his sword straight up. The robot crashed down on it, the tip embedding itself in its armour. He felt himself struggle to hold it up. This wasn't like him… then again, the robot was ridiculously heavy…

The weight shifted slightly. He looked to his right. The girl was wedging her sword lengthways between the robot and the ground. When she'd finally managed to get it to stay where it was, she retreated from underneath Galleom and beckoned him to do the same. Meta Knight yanked his sword out and darted out from underneath the robot just as Amber, Marth and Ike leapt onto the robot's back, pressing down heavily. With the extra weight, Galleom was forced down onto the girl's sword. With a screech, it returned to a standing position, throwing them off. The sword was stuck in its armour, right up to the hilt. Amber crashed to the ground, not used to fighting anything bigger than a kitten who wants you to feed it in the morning. The other two warriors landed on their feet and resumed the fight. Amber backed off several metres. There was no way she was getting that sword back any time soon – it was embedded too deep to pull out. Until she changed forms again, she was going to be useless.

Wait… could she change forms without having to find new ones every time? She focused for a moment, trying to turn into the Mario form. Nothing seemed to be happening… Wait, what was it Master Hand had said?

"_When you are defeated, you will revert to a trophy and lose all other character models other than your 'main' one._" She blinked. Okay, so… she had acquired Mario's transformation right before she was caught up in the Subspace explosion, right? So which had she found after that…?

Pit's, she recalled. And Marth's. A pitiful selection, if she was honest with herself. She made a resolution to try and improve on that in the future.

She focused hard on what it had felt like to have wings. She remembered the outfit in minute detail. The odd bow she had carried, with the bladed edges. The feeling of flight…

She looked down and watched herself transform, smiling happily now that she'd found out how to do so. The sword in Galleom's body dissolved into nothingness, and a bow appeared in her hands. She pulled back the ethereal string and focused her energy. A blueish glowing arrow appeared. She took careful aim…

Galleom crashed backwards, skidding over the edge of a ravine. It tumbled down until finally it hit the bottom with a loud crash. The floor gave way, and it disappeared into the inky blackness.

"Sorry to take the fight away from you lot," she smirked at Ike's incredulous expression, "but we really must be going."

"What are those ruins down there?" Marth asked, staring at the hole Galleom had left in the paved floor. Amber shrugged.

"I don't know. Just some old bricks. Leave 'em." She spread her wings, feeling the breeze.

A loud explosion caught their attention. Galleom hurtled out of the ground. Something was clutched in its right hand, and with a spark, this severed itself from the robot.

"Wait, what? There are two kids up there!" Marth yelled, eyes widening. Meta Knight reacted the fastest, wings spreading to propel him forwards. There were a few brief moments where dust kicked up and nothing could be seen…

And then Meta Knight arrived at the cliff again, dropping the children roughly onto the hard ground and then skidding to a halt himself against the rock.

Lucas picked himself up slowly, head reeling. What had just happened? He remembered casting thunder at the robot, and then there was a fall…

The Pokémon Trainer allowed the younger kid to help him to his feet.

"Thanks."

"No problem! I'm just glad it's over…"

Introductions were made, and Amber kept an eye on Meta Knight to make sure he was alright.

"You kind of, er, crash-landed a bit there. Are you okay?" She offered a hand. He ignored it and stood up on his own.

"I will be fine. Our main priority is getting to the top of that mountain."

A huge explosion made everyone fall silent. Six pairs of eyes stared up at the new area of Subspace which had engulfed the ruins and the sky around it.

"Better hurry, then," Amber muttered.

---

Not long afterwards, they reached the mountain's base. Meta Knight had caught a glimpse of the Halberd and was already flying halfway up the mountainside, having managed to put on a burst of speed. Two figures nearby made their way up the mountain in a series of jumps. They were actually beating him by possibly a few metres, which seemed hard to believe.

"We have to climb this?" Ike moaned. "I don't see the point…"

"Meta Knight's ship is up there," Amber explained. "If we can catch it, not only will we have a free ride but it has laser cannons and stuff as well." She didn't mention the stowaway that she knew was on that ship. It would probably just raise more doubt.

Marth began the climb, sheathing his sword. Amber followed suit, and with a resigned look Ike finally agreed to come with them – not like he had much of a choice in the matter.

Luckily, the Ice Climbers had left pegs and rope jammed into parts of the cliff face, and this made it a lot easier. Amber was a terrible climber, but whenever she fell she merely beat her wings to regain her place.

After what seemed like an age, they reached the top. Meta Knight and Lucario were shaking hands nearby, apparently having battled and resolved the issue of rivalry.

"What is your business here at the mountain's peak?" Lucario asked quietly. Meta Knight merely turned his gaze skywards, and Lucario followed his line of sight. The Halberd crept out of the crimson cloud cover, the Great Fox lashed to the underside, and smashed the smaller airship against the mountain. Amber struggled to stay upright as the quake that followed this action shook her to her knees. Lucas took her arm to steady her.

"Thanks," she nodded as the rumbling died down. She looked over at Meta Knight… but the warrior was gone, and so was Lucario. She caught the end of a blue tail vanishing into a door on the ship's side, and narrowed her eyes. "Over there. We have to follow them."


End file.
